Excuse me while I become starry-eyed for a moment

I know this is going to make some people nutso, but I never feel so American as when I'm watching the MLS.
I'm not talking about the wealth and world domination that causes so many to chant "We're Number One!" This is not the chest-thumping pride that comes with having things our own way across the globe for decades, with having the biggest military or being able to boss small countries about what form capitalism should take. None of that feels all that good to me anyway.
This is more the American feeling from the turn of the 19th century into the 20th. It's the feeling that everything is grand and new and possible, with a little elbow grease. It's the wide-eyed enthusiasm for new inventions and world's fairs.It's the same feeling I used to get at House on the Rock in Wisconsin, with its rooms full of mechanical marvels.
It's optimism. And it feels great to just succumb to it.
There aren't many chances to do that in America these days.
For the most part, we've done our building and growing. Our best inventing days sometimes seem to be behind us.
Traditional American sports are larded with money and fans. But the MLS is still an exciting frontier. Attendance is on the rise, youth players are sticking with it into their teens. They're adding teams and building stadiums.
And best of all, it's still a small enough sport that your season ticket can get you in to numerous events where you can talk to players and get autographs. I've shaken hands with Kansas City Wizard Jimmy Conrad several times. Try saying that about an NFL star, or any Premiership player in England for that matter.
Speaking of England, when I was there a few weeks ago, I had a chance to observe how they reacted to the terrible spanking they got at the hands of Germany in the World Cup. Here's the Sun:

Other papers were only marginally more restrained. In fact, there was endless carping, despair and calls for firings.
I'm not saying Americans aren't capable of the same vitriol. If there was an NFL world cup and the American team lost that badly, I'm sure the columnists would have been comparably irate.
But there isn't an NFL world cup--or a baseball world cup or a basketball world cup. And that's just the point. By taking the risk of competing in a sport where we have a disadvantage, we become American again. It's not about the winning. It's about believing.
My family watched the US's last game--against Ghana--at Ye Olde Cock in London. (Yes, that's really the name.) The bar was packed with American ex-pats. When the final whistle blew, the crowd spontaneously broke into The Star Spangled Banner.
It was the one and only time I've ever felt moved by our national anthem.